What's your least favorite "generic RPG" locale?

Deserts for sure. They have all the suckiness of every locale. They're almost all massive and bland, and they draw annoying game mechanics like flies. Random quicksand sending you back to the beginning, screen looping (only one path to the exit, no shortcuts, and if you mess up, you're back at the beginning), limited time due to thirst, sandstorms blocking your vision, chests hidden off in some obscure corner, or even worse, just sitting around in the center. The list of annoying crap that pops up in deserts could go on forever.

Sewers are usually boring too, but how sucky they are usually depends on how good the minimap is. I recently played through Dead Island, and holy crap, the no-map sewer area is pure hell. Some games don't have depth sliders for the minimap, and things can get confusing really quickly. Sometimes the minimap works perfectly, and that's all you look at because the actual sewer is too boring to look at.

Snow areas are the third most boring, though this is heavily tinted by Xenoblade and ****ing Valak Mountain, the most boring area ever to exist in any game. It's similar to the desert idea, massive and bland, but the worst you get is usually the occasional ice-sliding puzzle. I personally like ice areas, though, just not snow areas.---Koitsu wa mirai wo takusu eigo no tsurugi da! ZANKUU TENSHOUKEN!!!!

#52Zio_DynePosted 2/6/2013 6:25:05 AM

Whaa~?...but Valak Mountain is so damn gorgeous :oAll of the levels in Xenoblade are massive and not particularly interactive.It's par for the course in that regard. Such an amazing sight-seeing spot though, lol.The shift from day to night is just too good.

If you have access to rent games you should try out Risen 2. I just recently rented it for the 360 and finished it. Although it's not a JRPG (it's more of a WRPG and action oriented), it takes place on a bunch of islands and jungles. You get to be a pirate.

I say rent it because the game isn't that fantastic compared to some out now...the graphics a pretty sub par, and there are some glitches. Overall though it's not a bad game. Some people hate it, though...so a rental is probably best.---Douleur Peur Mort

#55DurlisceusPosted 2/6/2013 6:56:04 AM

I absolutely HATE towers - all kinds of towers. And there is at least one tower in absolutely every JRPG.

#56Zio_DynePosted 2/6/2013 7:03:06 AM

From: DDR Midian | #053

By that you mean sand. Just sand. I'm so bored of sand!.

Depends how it's handled.They can be boring sometimes, or outright obnoxious other times. Never a fan of time-limits in any capacity.I like them as a transitional stop-over though. They provide a unique scenery that doesn't have to be bland(hell, just look at Journey).

I thought it was used to the right effect in FFX. Stranded. Lost. Aimlessly wandering the shifting sands trying to regroup, while being forcibly dragged all along the way.The player is never really 'lost', but that's clearly what's happening.You can optionally return and explore later, but when it's a mandatory story-section, you're walking on a guided path.Only the character suffers. The player doesn't.

So long as they don't overstay their welcome, desert areas are neat imo.Not long enough to be a pain, but long enough to make the inevitable rescue or reprieve all the better.

#57mhayes86Posted 2/6/2013 7:50:12 AM

I'd have to say sewers and industrial cities as well (FFVII is no exception), and maybe prisons (beginning of BG2 comes to mind). Thinking about it, I believe Xenoblade had some of the best locations in recent memory.

#58XechsPosted 2/6/2013 8:01:20 AM

Sewers and deserts (although I like rogue galaxy one but that is exception). If these are in the game it's likely my two least favorite parts of the game.---http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u222/xechs/1198847692478tg1.gifhttp://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u222/xechs/rankastar.gif Ranka-Macross Frontier

#59Alucard_FoNPosted 2/6/2013 8:05:55 AM

There was a time in my life when I would have said deserts. But now it's ice levels, Wrath of the Lich King ruined them for me forever.

#60andrewlktPosted 2/6/2013 8:10:21 AM

Sewers and prisons

Sewers usually have a confusing layout with grates randomly blocking paths. The puzzle usually involves opening/closing/flipping various valves and switches to open up paths. They are usually filled with mobs that are heavy on inflicting the most annoying status ailments in the game.

Thankfully, Ding Dong Well is the second dungeon in this game and there's a limit to how annoying they can make a "sewer"-like level that early in the game.

Prisons usually involve an annoying stealth sequence. This is normally combined with stripping all your gear and forcing your party to fight shorthanded while you slowly recover your gear. And even worse are the ones that force you to manually equip that gear using a not so user friendly inventory system.